At a when we're all being advised to avoid crowds and remain at home, how can we go out into the world for entertainment and keep a safe distance from potential germ-laden crowds? The answer: take a trip back in time to a drive-in movie theater where you can see movies the way they were meant to be seen, on the big screen, all in the safety and comfort of your car!
So, it's rather fitting that Sam Sherman, veteran producer/distributor and showman of drive-in movies from the '60s, '70s and '80s, will be making his newly-restored catalogue of "B-Movie" film classics from Independent-International Pictures Corporation available to drive-in operators nationwide with the help of veteran drive-in theatrical distributor Mel Maron; former AMC programmer, David Sehring of Drive-In-Sanity Films; drive-in promoter and movie reviewer, George Reis, who runs the popular DVD Drive-In website; and David Gregory of Severin Films who handled the restoration efforts on various titles in the library.
Sherman will kick off a nationwide roadshow featuring his most iconic film, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, on May 26th at The Circle Drive In in Dickson City, PA. Later this Fall, George Reis, who also produces the semi-annual Super Monsterama Show at The Riverside Drive-In in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, will be bringing Sherman's Hemisphere Horror films back to the big screen including the popular Blood Island franchise of films produced in the 1960s.
A number of these films were the subject of a newly released documentary on an independent drive-in film maverick called Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson, which tells of the true Hollywood story of Adamson, who was Sherman's former production partner and friend that was tragically killed in 1995 in a bizarre case of murder.
Sherman plans to provide theatre owners with marketing ideas to "wow 'em" as well as some throwback nostalgia featuring gags, gimmicks and limited-edition souvenirs to coincide with an aggressive social media and marketing campaign plus "Special Guest Appearances" and raffles to lure customers and their communities to the thematic retro roadshow.
"As an exploitation pioneer, I know how to recapture the magic and campy fun my films brought to drive-ins during their heyday with good old-fashioned ballyhoo and showmanship ... something that has been missing for years in the film business. I think kids and their folks will get a big kick out of seeing something you rarely see today," said Sherman.
More special promotions and participating drive-ins will be announced in the coming months as the drive-in season gets into full swing on the East Coast.
In related news, Sam Sherman is currently finishing up his memoir as a drive-in movie producer, entitled When Dracula Met Frankenstein.
Comments